Balta1701

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 7, 2017 -> 09:14 AM) Balta definitely.

QUOTE (Two-Gun Pete @ Sep 7, 2017 -> 12:06 AM) Everything you just wrote here was said about Brian Anderson. And Jordan Danks. And others. (DeWayne Wise, perhaps as well?) How did that work out for them? Engel is a fine defender. But if he can't hit, he shouldnt be a starter. If any fandom has seen the "good glove/s***ty hitting" CFer fail, it should be this one. Whether we like it or not, Engel could be a decent 4th or 5th OFer on a good team. But that's about it for "the possibilities" for a guy who can't hit. Also, after a few years of MiLB, a hitter is largely what he's going to be. Engel can't be "taught" how to hit any more than Brian Anderson, or Danks, or any of the other "toolsy" types that KW craved for this org. Engel can work "on the margins" of his ability, but I doubt he'll amount to much of anything at the plate. "These toolsy athletes who could play defense did not develop into good hitters, ergo no toolsy athletes will develop into hitters" still remains weak logic. The fact that those guys did not develop should show you that these guys developing isn't likely, but it doesn't mean it never happens. I bet you that around baseball there are actually guys that did, and you know what it probably required? Playing time. The good news is...if he doesn't develop it doesn't hurt us to replace him, and if he does need playing time to improve - we have that to offer with no consequences for the next year!

Those...eyes....

So, the summary today: -Irma has sustained 185+ mph winds for >24 hours. First ever Atlantic storm to do that. -Puerto Rico appears to be able to avoid a direct eyewall impact, but because they have been forced into dramatic maintenance cutbacks by their debt relief agreement with the U.S. Government their systems were already in bad shape and there is talk that it could take months just to get the electricity back on from this sideswipe. -Be cautious about sharing photos of devastated areas, we saw a whole bunch of that with Harvey and many of them were frauds, tornado shots, photoshopped, etc. -There is now almost certainly going to be a US landfall of Irma as a major (3+) hurricane. -If Irma steers slightly west it makes landfall in Miami and weakens as it moves up the peninsula. -If Irma steers slighly east Miami breathes a sigh of relief and gets the same bypass that Puerto Rico got. Irma drenches Florida but most of the winds miss, and the storm makes landfall as a Major Hurricane somewhere near Georgia or South Carolina. -The worst case scenario is right in the middle of the cone and close to what the European Model is putting out right now. That scenario is a landfall of the eye at Miami, hitting a major urban area as a category 5 storm. That would then be followed by the storm heading north hugging the coast, and like Harvey it could maintain strength by keeping part of the storm's core over unusually warm Atlantic waters as it goes. This basically produces a Category 3+ storm landfall up the entire eastern coast of Florida and Georgia until full landfall is made. 20 miles east or west avoids this scenario, but if it happens then Irma is easily the most expensive natural disaster in US history - including ones that happened in the last week.

If you have not seen the photos the Hurricane Hunters are sharing from inside the Eye you absolutely have to they're amazing. Irma has continued strengthening all day as recorded by dropping central pressures.

Everyone realizes that "increasing it through December" means it actually increases through like next June because of the expensive, taxpayer dollar wasting "Emergency fund moving measures" Treasury keeps doing right?

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Sep 6, 2017 -> 01:30 PM) Any idea yet if Jose is supposed to make landfall and where? As of right now, Jose is supposed to take a path north of where Irma is currently headed and peak at intensity of at least Category 3 somewhere near Bermuda, making it also a major hurricane. However, after that the potential paths are all over the place - it could continue towards the coast, swing farther south, or turn away from the US, all are within range. Basically that needs several days of development before we're anywhere close to knowing about landfall.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 07:17 PM) I agree that Leury is not a poor defender, but I doubt that he is any better than average. Both DRS and UZR have him coming out at basically being an average CF during his time there. And of course, that's while being a platoon player and not being able to focus on the position.

Play em all and let baseball sort it out. Aside from 2b and that possibly not human thing that we'll see take over a corner OF spot midseason, that's my plan for pretty much every position next year.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 06:49 PM) No doubt they will. The questions then how much money and on whom? The time to spend money was "right" in the four years preceding this clunker of a season, when we had the last solid, cost-controlled set of "core" players. Yet the amount of money the Sox spent was in line with the amount of money small market teams like Minnesota and Kansas City were expending in payroll, and it was spent across a bunch of mid-tier to scrap heap types of talent. So when you say they will "spend money when the time is right", will the spending strategy be different than the one that failed so miserably from '13-'16? The White Sox spent some of their highest payrolls in team history during those seasons and as you noted got no where close. Here's the basic problem - the White Sox did not have a strong "cost-controlled set of core players". They had a pair of excellent players and about 2 other good players to go with them, and then a roster full of waste. They had to bring in "mid-tier scrap heap types" every year because they had so many different positions they needed to fill alongside that small group. They had no roster depth, and the tiny bits of roster depth they did manage to create Rick Hahn would immediately package for his next big name acquisition. With no roster depth and 5-6 key positions to fill every single year, they weren't going to be able to spend their way out of it, with the failure rate on the FA market, without challenging the Dodgers in payroll - they had too many needs. What they need to create is the opposite situation - they need to create a situation where they have roster and organizational depth. They need to create a situation where they know they have 1 or 2 obvious needs. Fill the OF, starting rotation, 2b, and leave either 3b or SS as a weak spot and they know they need to go out and grab a 3b or SS and maybe bullpen help. That's manageable in an offseason without having to go scrap heap diving.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 05:09 PM) The Red Sox already had to give up an entire international class because of cheating down there. Apparently they have been exchanging notes with the Patriots. If you could exchange notes with a 5 time champ, wouldn't you?

Sponsorship?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 03:19 PM) The Rockies say no. They have plenty of outfielders as is. I think the 3rd OF someone mentioned as possible last time was Valaika correct? Once Gonzalez is out of the way, they've got Valaika, Desmond, Blackmon, and Parra. If you don't have confidence in Desmond, and Valaika isn't lighting the world on fire although he's been better than Gonzalez...I still think there's a decent match.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 4, 2017 -> 07:00 PM) Now it's Florida that's largely the target, and it could be another record setting hurricane. I think they'll know more accurately what to expect after the latest round of simulations tonight Now a category 5, among the top 20 strongest Atlantic Hurricanes ever recorded, with a current target bullseye aiming at Miami. Strongest recorded outside of the Gulf or Caribbean where warmer waters used to be confined. 3rd strongest wind speeds on record in the Atlantic Basin. The US Has never had 2 category 4+ storms make landfall in a single year. Floridians, get out of the way.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 1, 2017 -> 10:33 PM) In retrospect you can say that. Floyd was somewhat of a whipping boy here on Soxtalk but maybe I am only remembering later in his career. I seem to recall some " deer in the headlights" comparisons with him. Perhaps if he was better looking .... Without mentioning names...when he came up there were some "I could hit Gavin Floyd!" posts. He then dropped a dominant season the next year and was key to us making the playoffs.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Sep 1, 2017 -> 10:25 PM) +10000000. You can lose more games, you can't win fewer. Now that Miguel is out of the way, if we're winning games - it literally is happening because of Rodon, Lopey, and Giolito. Hopefully Shields and Holland continue doing exactly what they have been doing. If we don't get the 2nd pick, it's because those 3 pitched well and we wound up winning a game or two. Maybe even got decent bullpen out of Fulmer and Minaya. And if that happens? Basically I'm ok with that.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Sep 1, 2017 -> 10:14 PM) If the Giants win, the White Sox will take back the #2 pick. The Phillies will still lead the 1st pick by 2.5 games... WE CAN DO THIS! Seriously, stop counting games back and watch the win column. We have won 1 game more than the Phillies, 1 game fewer than the Giants. That's where we really sit. For whoever worried about the Tigers a moment ago, they have won 6 more games than us.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 06:43 PM) Not sure how Otani fits in with the Dodgers desire to get under the cap but with their history of Japanese players and willingness to spend money it's hard to see a team being more attractive than the Dodgers. Being the best team in baseball doesn't hurt either. We certainly don't know for sure that either the Dodgers or Yankees will decide to get under the Tax this year. One of them wins the World Series and that could change their thinking for next year. They're both in position to, but they may throw that out the window as well.

When is his opt out?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 12:10 PM) Serious question. Beaumont has no water. What do you do if you wake up and didn't fill the bathtubs with water and all the roads are flooded? So it's 9 a.m. and you have no water and no water will be coming for a while. The whole city is without water. What do you do? All this stuff is scary and sad both. I'm so spoiled if I wake up and can't take a shower I'd be pissed/inconvenienced beyond belief. We're talking no water to drink here and they say they don't know when there will be water. Some people don't stock up on bottled water for whatever reason. You try not to die and prioritize keeping your kids alive. Bottled water is flowing into that area. Find aid however you can. Survival mode. Priority #1 is potable water, #2 is shelter, #3 is food, in that order.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 08:57 AM) Lead, arsenic & other toxic & carcinogenic elements may be leaching from two dozen Superfund sites in Houston area. A chemical plant exploded early this morning, too. Last year the Houston Chronicle ran a multi-part series on how regulators basically have no idea what's being held at any of these chemical plants and there's no one trying to figure it out. Yesterday when the possibility of this plant exploding was raised, a scientist from here was quoted saying that it would never explode because all you have to do is add a compound to the explosive chemical that neutralizes it and, although you'd lose that batch of chemical, it's better than an explosion. The professor didn't even consider the concept that they wouldn't have any of the chemical to neutralize the hazardous stuff on site, it was just "of course they have that". 24 hours later it was exploding because they didn't have any.

Lopey?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 29, 2017 -> 08:15 PM) Anyone see any info about donating things like clothes etc? FWIW, US Postal Service has stopped for any zip code that has a 778 to start with, so literally 100 miles from Houston there is no mail service right now. Literally don't even try to ship goods here unless you're able to access your own nationwide shipping network. Basically, don't ship items unless you're actually part of the Walton family or you are in one of the nearby communities already. If you want to give something tangible that isn't money, give blood. Houston will be collecting zero donations in the near future which means that every pint of blood that would otherwise have been used at the biggest medical complex in the world will have to be supplied from outside the city. I could probably suggest a gofundme page or two from people who I know first or secondhand if someone were interested, but no pressure.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 30, 2017 -> 05:00 PM) Ah yeah maybe. I used the link below and the way they phrased it seems like it was only 1 FA year...they did not count the 2 team option years as anything. In that case, yes he did leave a good chunk of money on the table. But I'd still argue 57m earned and a FA at 29 is still a good deal to make. He probably left about 40m on the table during for the length of that deal ultimately. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/42407922/whi...year-extension/ Although he's making $15 million less a year in 2018 and 2019 than he otherwise would have, it's worth noting that salaries are rising so fast that he'll make a portion of that up by that effect if he can stay healthy through those years.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 30, 2017 -> 04:21 PM) In the Sale extension - which I'd assume is the prime example of this - all he really gave up was 2 arb years & 1 "cheap" FA year (13.5m when he could have been FA making 20+) and in return guaranteed himself 30+ million as a 24 year old vs. risking it he could have probably made ~20m more. To me those deals still seem like no brainers to for both sides. I don't believe this is correct. Sale has over 6 years of service time as of right now, so if I understand this, 6 years = Free Agent. He came up in 2010 at the end of the year, and was on the big league team for 2011-2017, so 6+ full seasons of service time. He's still under team control for 2 years with options now, so if I'm counting this right the White Sox bought out 2 years of FA for him, not 1. Please someone tell me if I've done the math wrong.